Electoral Violence Again: Who Betrayed The People Of Kawempe North?

By Nzirimu Blair Bikwasi.

Abstract

On 13^th March 2025, Kawempe North Constituency went to the polls to elect a Member of Parliament. This exercise was dominated by an unprecedented wave of electoral violence orchestrated by Security Forces.  This Article revisits the violent scenes that have characterized Uganda’s elections from colonial days to the 2021 General election. It then narrows down to the Kawempe North By-Election and the resultant Election Petition specifically searching for an answer to the question; Who betrayed the people of Kawempe? It finally comes to a Conclusion that, it is the Electoral commission and makes a call for the same to be held responsible.

1. Introduction

In Uganda elections and violence have become complementary terms. Violence manifests in all elections at all levels right from the Political Party primary and grass root to the general elections.

Right from the 1958 election that was largely boycotted by Buganda to the 1961 election that saw a marriage of convenience between the Uganda People’s Congress and Kabaka Yekka, to the immediate post-independence period 1962-1980 where no elections were held due to political and instabilities. In the more recent past violence increased with the transition to multi-party elections in 2005. Sabiti Makara notes that the 2006 election witnessed a rise in the military control of elections. The 2011 and 2016 general election were not any different, with latter triggering Amama Mbabazi the second runner up to challenge the results in court. While Uganda had witnessed electoral violence as detailed above, the epitome of violence was witnessed in the 2021 electoral season. Several people especially the opposition supporters were short dead and others arrested. Kagoro and Jude opine that this violence was aimed at intimidating any one who had an intention of protesting the 2021 presidential election results.

The ultimate effect of this violence was low voter turn-up. Research shows that voter turn up shrinks every election that passes. In 2024 the Daily Monitor reported that in 2021, out of the 18 million registered voters only about 11 million turned up to vote.

2. The violence it was! Kawempe North by-election

The By-election in Kawempe North constituency resulted from the unfortunate death of the Hon. Muhammad Ssegirinya. By democratic standards, this was meant to be a peaceful civic exercise, the reality on ground was fundamentally opposite. Violence was part and parcel of the process.

Case in point was the nomination of the NUP Candidate Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola, who was attacked by security operatives from the Joint Anti-Terrorism Unit. What is intriguing is that, these incidents were dominated by security forces which brings into question role of the army in elections.  President Museveni attempted to justify these extra-legal actions of security forces. He says the army is diverted to deal with crowds due to the indiscipline of some opposition groups.

On the polling day, as observed by the Uganda Human Rights Commission from 67 polling stations, polling in the early hours of the day was peaceful, however the report notes the violence that was mated out on journalists later in the day.

After voting it is reported that violence broke out at 14 polling stations and this resulted into destruction of polling material hence zero return from these polling stations.

3. The Legal Contest; Nambi Faridah Kigongo Vs Elias Luyimbazi Nalukoola & Another

The First runner up petitioned the high court to nullify the election. The petition was based on two issues but this article will focus on the second; whether there was non-compliance with the provisions of the parliamentary elections act and if so whether the noncompliance affected the results in a substantial manner. The fundamental question was whether the Electoral Commission exercised its power under the law to ensure the right to vote for all citizens eligible to vote. Court observed that due to the violence that marred the election the Electoral Commission should have postponed vote tallying to ensure that citizens exercise their right to vote.  Court therefore faulted the electoral commission for the disenfranchisement of 16,640 voters.

On whether the disenfranchisement affected the final result substantially, court observed that for the petitioner to prove that the non-compliance affected the result in a substantial manner she had to demonstrate that the winning majority would reduce substantially to put the victory in doubt. Looking at the evidence before it, court observed that there was zero return from 14 polling stations where polling material was destroyed. Therefore, the disenfranchisement of 16,640 voters put the victory of the respondent in doubt, affecting the result of the election in a substantial manner. Court set aside the election and ordered a fresh one.

4. Who betrayed the people of Kawempe?

The decision above was received with mixed reaction. It was celebrated widely by the petitioner’s camp while it was heavily criticized by the first respondent.  At the time of writing the first respondent has filed a notice of appeal to challenge the decision. Be that as it may, the fundamental question remains, who betrayed the people of Kawempe. The electorate stood up against all odds placed against them, intimidation, arrests, torture to mention just a few. But after all this they are back to square one.

The law, as observed by the judge in the decision above places the electoral commission in charge of elections. The electoral commission is expected to have the power to over sea the election. However, it is evident from the evidence presented in court that the electoral commission failed on its duty that is to deliver a free and fair election.  The electoral commission is mainly blamed for having declared results without any return from 14 polling stations. This was the reason upon which the court set aside the election.

It can be remembered that this is not an isolated incident, and like it has been in the past the electoral commission gets away with it always. For example, in 2016, the electoral commission was found to have failed on its duty to deliver a free and fair election in Kyadondo East and as a result, the election results were set aside. In the 2006 Presidential Election Petition, the supreme court by unanimous decision found that there was non-compliance with the provisions of the constitution and the Presidential Elections Act. However what is intriguing is that the electoral commission always walks away unpunished. The time is right to have a discussion on how the electoral commission can be held responsible for failing to live to expectations. Beyond the expectations, there is tax payers’ money at stake. Elections in Uganda are very Costly, candidates and political parties invest a lot of time and resources, hence the need for the Electoral commission to take a stick once it fails to deliver a free and fair election. It should not continue to be that every time the EC fails to deliver, we simply hold another by election and all goes on business as usual.

5. Conclusion

The Preamble of the 1995 constitution recalls Uganda’s ugly past characterized by political and constitutional instability among other evils.  Article 1 guarantees power of the people who shall exercise it through free and fair elections, if the current trajectory continues unabated, we are living on a time bomb where we risk majority of the citizens losing trust in the electoral process. Already there are signs, voter turn up shrinks with every election that passes, with the turn up in Kawempe hitting a new low of 14%. As we await the Court of Appeal decision and whether there will be take 3 in Kawempe North, we must all commit to violence free elections. To begin with, the Electoral commission must apologize for betraying the people of Kawempe.